Gunslinger
by Infinity Moment
Summary: "I'll tell you what, kid. You take this attack, and I'll give you the win." "You've got to be joking. A fight isn't over when a victor is decided... A fight is over when someone suffers the shame of defeat!" "That'll be the last arrogant thing that comes outa' your mouth!" "Come at me, bro!" Given to The Pawn of Fate to continue.
1. Chapter 1: Violet Stains

Gunslinger

Chapter 1: Violet Strikes

BANG, BANG, BANG-

Blood. Nothing but vast seas of crimson, with islands of rubble, and I was making that sea level rise.

I ducked behind a dumpster, narrowly avoiding enemy fire.

_Damn. I'm running low on ammo, and I don't have enough shots to finish all of them off. I guess I'll just have to wait it out._

_**My name is Akita Neru, and I'm the heir to the Akita gang. Well, I was, until that fateful day when I left everything, including my own time.**_

Just then, an enemy gang member snuck up behind me and took a shot. I turned around just in time to see the bullet… freeze right in front of my face.

_Everything stopped moving._

"**Do you wish to live?**" a voice inquired.

"Y-yeah, why?"

"**You seek help, as do I. I recommend that we make a deal… a contract of sorts. I will save you, and give you everything you will need to survive, and _you_ will save my time**." The voice proposed.

"O-okay, you're on! We'll need some new guns for this, preferably ones that never run out of ammo," I accepted.

"**And what makes you think that I can do that?**" the voice questioned rhetorically.

"You're a magical voice that can stop time. We wouldn't put it past you."

"**True enough. Very well, I shall accommodate.**"

I felt everything shift around me, as the entire world fast forwarded at a breakneck pace. The people around me remained suspended in place, yet still aged, and eventually started rotting while still in their standing positions.

_Okay, gross!_

I retched violently.

When time unfroze, the bullet dropped to the ground instead of hitting me. My enemy gang members all dropped to the ground as rotting corpses.

I wiped the bile off of my mouth and proceeded to look around. What I saw shocked me.

Hideous black reptilian beasts with wings roamed the streets freely. The few people I could see were either desperately hiding in fear of the beasts, or being executed by them.

I looked on in horror as one of the vile creatures, bigger than the rest, began to slaughter a poor, defenseless little family with its giant, razor-sharp claws.

_Stay calm, Neru. You've seen this before._I thought to myself. _"But that was with guns! The death would be instant! This creature is using _claws _to tear them to shreds, and he's ENJOYING it! KILL HIM!" _a voice in my head said back.

_No! I'll get myself killed! I can't risk that!_ I tried to reason with my other voice. _"Didn't that voice say to _save _his time? How can you save an entire timeline if you can't even save one family?!"_

"Ch—fine." I relented, conceding to my other voice.

I pulled out my two guns, spinning them on my pointer finger three times before grabbing hold of the handles and taking aim at the vile beast that made my other voice so angry.

"Let's go mother!" I yelled, shooting three rounds from each gun into the beast's back.

"_**RUEEAAHHH!**" _the beast roared in pain, turning around to face me right before it would've put the last remaining member of the family, a young blonde-haired child, through the shredder.

I fired three more rounds from my right pistol into its right arm, trying to get it to come after me.

_Okay, I've got seven rounds in my good hand, and four left in my off hand. If I can get it into point-blank range, then I should be able to kill in with five more shots. The downside is that I could very easily get torn to shreds if I'm not careful._ I thought, taking less than two seconds.

"_**I shall kill you in the name of his majesty, the demon king Dragnok!**__"_the beast roared.

"Not if we kill you first!" I shouted in retaliation.

_That's it, come. Come to your death._

I waited until he was a few meters away, and then fired three rounds into the beast's chest. It roared, continuing its charge.

_What the f—_

I jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a slash that cleaved the boulder behind me into pieces.

My guns, however, weren't so lucky. I dropped them in fear just before I dodged the death-slash, and they ended up getting stomped on by the monster's giant clawed foot.

_Uh oh, this is _really _bad._

Just then, two guns appeared in front of me. They looked similar to my old ones, but something was different. When I grabbed them from in front of me, something happened.

The barrels grew _blades._

The blades were about fifty centimeters, and seemed to automatically turn so that the edge was always facing the opponent.

"It's on now, mother!"

I ran towards the charging beast, jumping off of its giant claws and performing a cross-slash to its eyes.

"_**MY EYES! I CAN'T SEE!"**_ the beast screamed in pain.

_Why aren't there any cut marks on this thing?_

Indeed, the blades made no cut marks on the beast. Instead, they left glowing violet marks that showed no depth. However, it seemed that these blades inflicted more pain than even blades tipped with a deadly poison.

I jumped back to avoid a slash, starting to crack up. "Chehe—How _laughably_ easy."

"_**How DARE you! RRAAAAHH!"**_the satanic beast screamed at me, charging its final charge.

"Enjoy your stay in hell."

I took one shot. I shot the beast straight in between the eyes.

It exploded.

"Well, that was fun. After I got the new guns, that is," I said to a space filled with nothing but rubble.

"_The kid!"_ my other voice yelled.

"Right, right."

I walked over to the kid, who was bawling her eyes out, clutching the corpse of a boy about her age, probably her twin by the looks of him.

"No! Len! Please, don't leave… I love you," the girl cried desperately.

Something in the tone of that girl's voice struck a chord in my soul, making me _feel_ her pain. It was as if this girl's voice was that of a siren, captivating me, drawing me into her sorrow before it swallowed me whole.

"We're sorry… we couldn't get there in time to save him." _A lie. I sat there and watched him, along with the rest of your family die, just like a coward._

"No, you're not a coward. At least you gathered up the courage to save me, right?" she replied sweetly.

"What the— Can you…" I started.

"Read minds? Usually not, but somehow I can read yours!"

"Usually not?" I deadpanned.

"You're the second person I've been able to read. The first was… you know…"

"We're sorry." _She must hate me…_

"I don't hate you. By the way, we might want to get out of here, there are a LOT of Demon Soldiers in the area."

"So that's what they're called. Anyway, good idea. Let's go before they find us."

"Actually they kinda already did," she said, shaking with fear.

I looked around, finding that a legion of the Demon Soldiers had indeed found us.

"You know a way out? I'm not from around here," I inquired.

"Sure, let's go!"

**A/N:**

**HOORAAAY! I'm out with my second fanfic! But don't worry, I won't abandon ESR, I just needed an assignment that I could do at school. (During seminar, of course.) And because my typing speed is god _awful_, I needed something that had shorter chapter lengths.**

**I'm trying something new: I'm going to write some yuri. FYI, the genre won't carry over into ESR, for all the yuri-haters who have read that story. Don't like it, you can stick to ESR.**

**Also, the pairings for this story are as follows: Negitoro, Miki/Gumi, and Neru/undecided. I'm not sure who to pair Neru up with, if anyone. But NO, I will NOT pair Lily (Yes, Lily will have a big role) and Rin together, as I just can't see it happening.**

**May Happiness Be With You,**

**OMG**


	2. Chapter 2: Prelude to Chaos

Gunslinger

Chapter Two: Prelude to Chaos

Running.

From demons.

We were running from a horde of demons.

As the child leading me along grew tired, the demons started slowly closing the distance, little by little.

"Can you tell us which way to go?" I asked in a soft whisper.

"Y-yeah," She replied.

"Good. Hang on!" I yelled as I picked her up.

I kept running, even faster than before. Soon I was running so fast that I couldn't read the few remaining street signs. Faster than any car. Far faster than those pitiful demons could ever hope to match.

_How are we running so fast? My trainer never taught me a technique anything like this!_

"When someone touches me, their physical capabilities are increased to incomparable levels," she said matter-of-factly.

"Please don't read our mind."

"Sorry, I can't turn it off for people that I can read. I hear their thoughts the same way a person hears someone else speak," she replied apologetically.

"Alright, whatever." I relented, annoyed. "Now, I think we've lost the demons, but now we're lost too. This is bad," I continued.

"Actually, we're not lost. Come check this out!" She said proudly, motioning for me to let her down.

When I let her down, she ran off, yelling, "Follow me!"

I followed her into a junkyard, starting to question her sanity.

_What's she doing?_

"C'mon!" she called, coming back and leading me to an underground door.

"A secret hideout in a rundown junkyard like this?" I queried incredulously.

"You don't like it, you can face the demons on your own. We'll be down there." Someone with short green hair said, pointing to the door. "Safe."

The girl had a standard Japanese military uniform from my time, with a hat and a pair of orange goggles. Everything about this girl irritated me.

"Gumi, she's my friend. Neru, meet Gumi. Gumi, meet Neru," The blonde girl introduced us.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Gumi and I shouted in unison.

"Since when did we/she become your friend?!" we once again shouted in perfect sync.

"Why you little!" we shouted simultaneously once more.

"That's enough, you two. You're gonna make all the demons in a five mile radius find us if you keep that up. Then where would we go?"

"Sorry master Yuuma," Gumi apologized in a rush.

"We're sure as hell not sorry! We don't even know you people, yet this witch treats us like an asshole, and you treat us like a five year old kid! If you'll excuse us, we have a timeline to save."

"You got that message too?" Gumi inquired agitatedly.

_Oh no. no no no no no!_

_"Kill her,"_ my other voice said, eerily calm.

"Yeah. Don't get in my way. If you attack us or get in the way of our actions, we won't hesitate to kill you."

"You're bluffing," Gumi countered foolishly.

"Oh really?" I started, drawing my guns and pointing them both at her face. "Try us."

I walked over to her, noticing her back one step away with each step forward I took. When she hit a mound of trash and fell over, I knew it was it. She was done.

"Come on, let's be reasonable," Gumi laughed nervously.

"Yeah, alright. Let's talk it out like the reasonable adults we're not. We say we make a deal," I complied.

"W-what kind of deal?" she stuttered fearfully.

"You stay out of my way, and we won't kill you or anyone else here. If you do get in our way, however, we can't guarantee the safety of anyone in this junkyard, or in your stupid secret base."

"That isn't reasonable at all!" Gumi shrieked.

"Akita Neru, heir to the Akita gang is always reasonable!" I shouted, offended.

"But… but Akita Neru vanished one hundred years ago!"

I dropped my guns in shock. _One hundred years?!_

"Then that means… our family… WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR GANG?!"

"They were wiped out by the Demon King Dragnok himself around the same time you vanished without a trace," Yuuma explained.

"YOU'RE LYING!" I screamed in denial.

"Tch."

Gumi smirked fiendishly, snatching up one of my guns. Before she could even aim at me, I picked up my other gun in my left hand and took a shot.

BANG!

The sound of shattering glass could be heard throughout the entirety of the junkyard.

Gumi dropped the gun and fell to her knees.

She had survived.

I had shattered her goggles.

"Damn it, those goggles were really tough. That same gun killed a giant Demon Soldier," I said with mild annoyance.

Everyone's eyes went wide, but I didn't care.

I had reached my objective. I had destroyed something important to her.

_Good. Now that witch knows what true pain feels like. "Finish her off now,"_ my other voice said calmly.

_No._

"Y-y-you… you broke my father's goggles! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

She pulled out a machete from who knows where and began charging at me recklessly.

I dodged every strike gracefully, as if we were in a dance. I kept evading her wild slashes with little effort, leading her around until we approached my other gun, which she had thrown aside in order to pull the machete on me.

When the gun was directly in between us on the ground, I purposefully fell down and kicked the gun up into the air while simultaneously tripping Gumi so that she was flat on her back.

I loomed over her, extending the blade on my left gun and pressed it ever so lightly against her throat, careful not to cut her, and then caught the airborne gun in my right hand as it fell.

I pointed the gun in my right hand at Gumi, snarling, "If you ever try to attack us again, we will kill everyone you care about. All of your closest friends, your family, anyone and everyone."

"Why?! Why don't you just kill ME?!"

"Because we want to see you suffer. You were reduced to pure rage after something so trivial happened. Just like I was, before…" I explained bitterly.

"You don't know what true pain is. You don't know what true sadness feels like," I finished, walking away.

As I walked, I noticed the sound of someone walking up the stairs of the secret hideout. I turned around agitatedly. Great, there's more of them.

"Okay, who the HELL wakes me up at three o'clock in the frickin' morn— oh wow. Who's the prick responsible for breaking Gumi's goggles?!" a girl with long red hair exclaimed while coming out of the underground door.

"That would be that girl," that Yuuma guy said, pointing to me.

_That son of a—_

"You'll pay for breaking my best friend's most treasured item. I'll personally see to it."

"Come at us, mother!" I shrieked, sprinting towards her with insane speed.

I'd had it.

I felt ready.

Ready to kill.

**A/N:**

**Aaaaand Chapter 2 is OUT, baby! *Guitar solo***

***KABOOM!* and the lightshow is over. G'night, my people!**

**Just messin' with ya.**

**If you're wondering why Neru is so cold and heartless, then I'll explain. It's actually fairly simple. She was the heir to the most powerful gang in the entirety of Japan, and they had many rival gangs competing with them to steal that title. And by competing, I mean having gang wars. Ever since she was announced to be the heir to the Akita gang's throne, she's been a constant target for enemy gangs, and as such, many of her close friends were killed defending her.**

**If you're wondering about her "Other voice", then I can't explain that part yet, it's a spoiler.**

**I will tell you, however, that the reason she refers to herself as "We" is related to her other voice.**

**If you want to know why they all know about the Akita gang, they were the strongest in Japanese history. (In my story at least.) That would imply that they were widely known for generations.**

**I hope that answers any questions you may have.**

**May happiness be with you,**

**OMG**


	3. Chapter 3: Violet Chaos

Gunslinger

Chapter Three: Violet Chaos

* * *

"_Okay, who the HELL wakes me up at three o'clock in the frickin' morn— oh wow. Who's the prick responsible for breaking Gumi's goggles?!" a girl with long red hair exclaimed while coming out of the underground door._

"_That would be that girl," that Yuuma guy said, pointing to me._

_That son of a—_

"_You'll pay for breaking my best friend's most treasured item. I'll personally see to it."_

"_Come at us, mother!" I shrieked, sprinting towards her with insane speed._

_I'd had it._

_I felt ready._

_Ready to kill._

* * *

"That's right, bring all four feet of you!" the infuriating redhead shouted.

I stopped. _I can't fall for her taunt. She probably has some sort of close range weapon, so I have to attack from a distance._

**BANG, BANG, BANG!**

Several loud explosions could be heard, all caused by the bullets making contact.

_They're making contact with _something_, but it's not her, otherwise there wouldn't be explosions powerful enough to stir up dust. But what could it be? Wait, she—_

As the dust cleared, my suspicions were confirmed. She had cut the bullets with a blade. A butterfly knife, to be exact.

_How could that—_

"My reflexes top all others. Don't even _think_ that you could hit me with _bullets_," the redhead said cockily, just asking to be killed mercilessly.

"Oh yeah? Reflexes don't do _crap_ if you can' actually move fast enough after you react! Let's GO!"

My secret ability activated. I was in front of her in a blur, the blade of my right gun to her throat.

"Alright, that's it!" someone with a familiar voice shouted lividly.

Everything went white.

* * *

When I woke up, I found myself in what appeared to be an underground cave, littered with X-rated magazines from my time.

_What the fu—_

"So, you're awake. Our teacher wants to see you. Come this way," Rin said happily.

_Something's off about her voice. She sounds happy on the surface, but… it's almost as if she's scared of something._

As I was led down further into the tunnel, I noticed that the frequency of X-rated magazines showing up in my line of vision was increasing slowly but steadily.

As thoughts of disgust plagued my mind, we arrived at the tightly closed door. When I walked into it, Rin giggled.

_That girl has a damn annoying laugh. It's too freakin' cute._

When she opened the door, I saw something truly shocking, or someone, I should say.

I saw _him_. The man who had been like a second dad. The man who had taught me to fight with things other than guns.

The second in command in my former gang.

Gakupo.

"O-O-Old Man?! You're really here, right…? T-this is really you, isn't it?" I stuttered.

_He must be an illusion, or some kind of monster posing as my master. He looks the same as he always did._

"Yeah, I'm here, I'm here. The _real_ question is: why the hell are you here? You disappeared a hundred years ago," My so-called master said, sounding exactly like the real deal.

"Don't worry, it's really me. I'll have to explain it to you later in private, but right now, could you answer a few questions for this old man?"

Memories of my times spent with Gakupo in my time flashed before me, as if warning me to run away.

"_Daddy said you would train me, Old Man." "I'm NOT that old, Master Neru!"_

"_Old Man, look! Daddy gave me my first gun!" "I'm not old!"_

"_Thanks for the awesome sword, Old Man!" "I'm not—! Ah, forget it. Happy birthday, Neru."_

"Rin. Out. Now." I whispered to her in a tone that said, 'Obey me or else.'

"But why—"

"GET OUT!" I screeched.

She left in a rush.

"Good, now we can talk in private," 'Gakupo' said calmly.

"Drop the _fucking_ act _now_, you impostor." I snarled, livid that this faker would impersonate my _teacher_, of all people.

"All right," he, drawled, his voice slowly becoming progressively deeper. "You caught me, Akita. You're smarter than I thought. Too bad you have to die."

He started _changing_. His skin started darkening to violet colors. His eyes turned into a wild gold color.

_His eyes are the same as mine!_

He grew _fangs_. His hands turned into razor-sharp claws of similar size, as to not inhibit his speed.

_What the hell?!_

"**I am Lucian, a commander of Lord Dragnok's Royal Army. I will be your final opponent. Have at you!"**

"Let's do this, mother! KURAAAAGH!" I screamed, charging forward.

Six minutes later and we were both still in top form, fighting for heaven and hell. Well, technically I was fighting for earth, but fighting a demon sort of counts, I guess. The room, however, was not quite as resilient as us. There was rubble everywhere, and more of it was piling up with each passing second.

I had decided to use my barrel-blades, seeing as I didn't want to end it so soon. A little stupid, but I really had nothing to lose. Ever since I was little, fighting had always seemed like a game, whether I was fighting for my life or just training.

_Well, there's very little enjoyment in fighting a demon, apparently._

I started to attack more violently, speeding up to whole new levels.

**Left, right, upward inverted V, double down, up-**

I just barely avoided being slashed to bits by the razor-sharp claws of the former Gakupo impersonator, but still got a small cut.

It started bleeding.

It didn't stop.

_SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT! I've gotta end this quickly._

"All right, mother, it's time to END THIS! _Shooting Star Driver_!"

**BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!**

I fired a round into each of the Lucian's limbs, paralyzing them with the shots' special effects. Then, I started slashing Lucian mercilessly.

**Downward X, upward V, spin, double down, diagonal upward spin, left, right, double up, double down, upward V-**

I could feel it. I was losing a hazardous amount of blood.

Fast.

_I only have about two more minutes before I pass out from blood loss, so I have to end this quickly, or else I'm screwed!_

I jumped back.

**BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!**

I dashed forward.

**Downward X, upward V, left, right, spin-**

Lucian regained control of his limbs, punching me in the stomach and sending me flying back.

"Ugh… I'm not done!" I yelled furiously, even though my strength was draining a lot faster than before.

"RRAAAHH!"

I ran up to him at full speed, stabbing both barrel blades into his eyes.

"**UUUUAAAGH!"** the vile demon, screeched in pain.

I pulled the triggers.

The guns fired.

He limply fell to the ground.

Lucian was dead.

"Hah… hah…" I was exhausted.

Feeling satisfied with the blood of a demon on my hands, I collapsed onto the ground, blood streaming out of my wound.

**A/N:**

**KABOOM! I ****_finally_**** got a chapter of Gunslinger done again! I'm starting to make some headway into each of my stories, so I'm extremely happy!**

**Alright, I have a question for all you readers. How would you like a Hidamari Sketch fic that isn't simply about moe characters having tea and cakes? I'm talking ACTION, SHOUNEN, and a little yuri romance on the side. If you want to see a fic like that enter the Hidamari Sketch archive, then PM me and I'll give you a summary.**

**Aaand, it's time for convoluted explanations again!**

**#1: Neru is the overall fastest of all the characters in this fic. Miki's ****_reflexes_**** and ****_reaction time_**** are even with Neru's, but Miki's overall movement speed ****_after_**** her initial reaction can't even ****_compare_**** to Neru's.**

**#2: Neru also has one of the highest ATTACK powers in the entire fic. However, she has paper-thin defense. You see, Neru has an illness called hemophilia, which basically means that her blood doesn't clot. Because of this, even the ****_slightest_**** cut to a ****_minor_**** vein or artery would never stop bleeding until she can't bleed in that area AT ALL anymore. In most cases, she would just pass out due to blood loss, (Because someone would help her out) but if a main vein or artery gets cut, she'll bleed to death very quickly.**

**Edit: Letting you guys know that I'm giving this story to my good friend and the writer of The Beater and the Shadow, so I won't update this story ever again. My friend will do fine, so look out for Gunslinger: Reloaded!**

**See ya!**


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